Balancing apparatus



Dec. 24, 1968 o. D. COVELL, JR 3,417,720

BALANG ING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 5, 1966 V W O. DEXTER COVELL, Jr.

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,417,720 BALANCING APPARATUS Otis Dexter Covell, Jr., 23 Riverside Terrace, Madison, Conn. 06443 Filed Oct. 3, 1966, Ser. No. 583,577 7 Claims. (Cl. 114-39) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Balancing apparatus for a sailing vessel comprising a frame secured to the hull of the vessel and a rail which is slida'ble in the frame, the frame and hull supporting the rail and restricting its movement to a direction substantially perpendicular to the vessels axis. The apparatus also comprises a platform or seat which moves transversely on the rail and stop means for limiting the movement of the rail relative to the frame and the platform relative to the rail in the outward direction relative to the vessel axis.

This invention relates to a high performance sailboat and more particularly to apparatus built into such a sailboat which will enable it to carry a relatively large sail on a small hull without capsizing or heeling excessively whereby the boat can attain high speeds even when the wind is light and can attain high speeds and be maintained under control when the wind is heavy.

It has long been desired to achieve such performance in sailboats and many different arrangements have been tried or are in use, but none of them has been proven to be entirely satisfactory. Such arrangements all contemplate compensation of the upsetting moment caused by the pressure of the wind against the sail by extending the weight of the crew as far from the longitudinal axis of rotation of the hull as possible so as to provide a sufiicient righting moment in the opposite direction to stabilize the boat with the mast in a generally vertical position.

The various means now in use to employ the weight of the crew for the purpose can be broadly classified as the provision of hiking straps on the hull so that the crew can sit on the edge of the deck or the side of the boat and lean out beyond the boat, the use of a trapeze whereby a crew member can suspend himself from a line attached to the mast for this purpose so that by placing his feet against the hull he can position his body completely beyond the hull, and the use of sliding or otherwise extendable boards projecting beyond the hull to support the crew. All of these known arrangements possess a common disadvantage, their operation is diflicult and relatively slow, and in gusty winds particularly, this often results in an insufficient righting moment as the wind increases, permitting the boat to heel excessively and perhaps capsize, or in an excess righting moment as the wind decreases, causing the boat to heel in the opposite direction and submerging the crew in the water.

It is a purpose, therefore, of this invention, to provide apparatus which can be attached to or built into the hull of a boat which will permit the crew to extend its weight considerably beyond the hull while at the same time enabling the crew to vary its exact position relative to the longitudinal axis of the hull in a rapid fashion so as to provide precisely the correct amount of weight compensation to prevent excessive =heeling of the boat in either direction.

These and other features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation, partially broken away, of

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a typical sailboat to which this invention can be applied;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevational taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation of a portion of the structure of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the structure shown in FIGURE 3; and

FIG. 5 is an end elevation corresponding to that of FIG. 3 depicting a modified form of the invention.

The sailboat depicted in the drawings has a hull 10 which can be of any design capable of moving through or on the water at high speeds and which is generally symmetrical about a fore and aft longitudinal axis. The boat is provided with a mast 12, a boom 14 and a sail 16, all of which can be of any desirable design. The vertical position of the mast in the hull may be secured by stays (not shown), and the position of the sail can be varied by suitable lines (not shown) which are attached to the boom 14 all in accordance with usual practice. A rudder 18 and its associated tiller 20, and a dagger board 22, are all provided to control the movement of the hull through the water. It is to be understood that the number of sails and the design of the sails and hulls can be varied in accordance with acceptable sailboat design without departing from the spirit of this invention. For example, the invention is readily applicable to a boat of the twinhulled type commonly known as a catamaran.

Mounted on the upper surface or deck 24 of the hull is a frame or retaining device 26 which extends parallel to the longitudinal axis of the hull in the area where it is desired to concentrate the crews weight. The frame may assume a variety of forms, but for purposes of illustration, is shown as centered on the hull and comprising an upper bearing member 28 attached to the hull by bolts or other suitable means, through blocks 30 maintaining it in spaced relationship above the deck. These blocks 30 are aligned across the hull perpendicular to its longitudinal axis and the upper bearing member 28 is positioned thereby parallel to the deck 24. The spacer blocks 30 and the upper bearing member 28 define a cavity in which a rail or balance bar 32 is somewhat loosely received for sliding movement, and preferably some degree of angular movement relative to the hull axis. The number of spacer blocks 30 and the length of the upper bearing member 28 can be selected so as to provide a plurality of cavities, if desired, to receive a plurality of balance bars or rails 32, or one such balance bar or rail in any of a number of positions.

As seen best in FIG. 2, the rail 32 extends transversely across the hull and has a length greater than the width of the hull. Lower bearing members 34 which are preferably made of nylon or some similar low coefiicient of friction and waterproof material, are secured to the deck within the cavity provided by upper bearing member 28 and the spacer blocks 30 and provide a space between the upper bearing member 28 and the lower bearing members 34 slightly greater than the height or vertical dimension of rail 32, so that the rail is free to slide back and forth in the frame 26 as indicated by the broken lines in FIG. 2.

The rail 32, as depicted in FIG. 3, is provided along each side with an outward facing C-shaped recess or channel 36, and is preferably of aluminum extrusion. On the other hand, the rail may be composite, so as to have a central portion of wood with a C-shaped aluminum extrusion or channel fastened to each side. The channels 36 are adapted to receive rollers 38, which may be made of nylon or similar material, and which rotate freely about shafts 49, carried by brackets 42, fastened by means of bolts 44 to a platform or seat member 46.

42 and platform 46 constitute what may be termed a hiking seat 48, which will slide freely in both directions on the balance bar or rail 32. The design of the rail 32 and of the hiking seat 48 can be modified appreciably so long as they satisfy the requirements that the rail slide freely across the deck and the hiking seat slide freely on the rail. As shown in FIG. 2, a hiking seat 48 is provided on each side of the frame 26. A fastening device, such as an eye bolt 50 held in place by a pin or bolt 52, is provided at each end of the rail 32 and the ends of a rope 54 of suitable length are suitably secured to the eye bolts respectively.

According to the modification shown in FIG. 5, the rail 32 is provided with a pair of inwardly facing C- shaped recesses or channels 60, similar to and back-toback with outwardly C-shaped recesses or channels 36. A bracket or frame 62 is attached to the deck 24 of the hull 10 by means of screws 68 or the like, and rigidly supports a shaft 64 on which a pair of nylon rollers 66 are free to turn. The rollers 38 which support the hiking seat will be free, therefore, to traverse the entire length of the rail 32, since in this case the frame 62 lies completely outside the path of the platform. In operation, as the rail 32 is slid from one side of the hull to the other by manipulation of the connecting rope 54, the rail will slide until one of the eye bolts 50 has contacted the proximate platform 46 and shifted it into contact with the upper bearing member 28 as shown by the solid lines in FIG. 2. The hiking seat 48 shown at the right end of FIG. 2 will then be free to travel over the unobstructed length of the rail 32, limited in one direction by the eye bolt 50 at the right end of the rail 32, and in the other direction by the proximate edge of the upper bearing member 28. When the boat is brought about on the other tack, the rail 32 will be slid through the frame 26 to the position depicted by broken lines in FIG. 2, whereupon the left hand hiking seat 48 of FIG. 2 will be free for movement between the left hand end of the rail and the frame 26.

The crew members will shift the rail or rails and their associated hiking seats as needed, when coming about, and will sit on the hiking seat located on the windward side of the boat. Straps 56 are secured to the upper bearing member 28 in any suitable manner, enabling a member of the crew to hook his feet under the appropriate strap and by straightening his legs and pushing against the edge of the upper bearing member 28, cause the hiking seat 48 on which he is sitting to travel away from the center line of the boat until the platform has travelled to the end of the rail into contact with the eye bolt 50.

The weight of the crew member on the end of rail 32 will cause it to tilt or bend slightly and contact one or the other of the outer bearing members 58 which will transfer the load imposed thereon into a righting moment on the hull to oppose the upsetting moment caused by the pressure of the wind against the sail 16. When the crew member retracts his legs by pulling against hiking strap 56, he will shift the hiking seat or platform on which he is sitting towards the center line of the boat thereby reducing the amount of righting moment caused by his weight. By simply retracting or extending his legs he can position his Weight precisely and quickly in the proper position to keep the boat sailing with its mast substantially vertical. Since the rail 32 is somewhat loosely received between the bearing members, the crew member occupying the platQorm can also shift it fore and aft to some degree by manipulation of his feet. If desired, other means may be provided for limited fore and aft movement. Thus, the present invention provides a boat which can safely and effectively carry a considerably greater amount of sail area in relation to the size of its hull and be sailed under control throughout varying conditions of wind at a resulting high level of performance, by the provision of apparatus which is simple to control, and easy to install and remove, permitting an optimum distribution of weight at all times.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for effecting balance of a sailboat about the longitudinal axis of its hull comprising:

a frame fixedly secured to said hull;

a movable rail supported by said frame, said frame restricting movement of said rail to a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the hull; and

a movable seat supported by said rail, said seat being slideable along said rail in a direction transverse to said longitudinal hull axis.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 further, comprising:

means mounted on said rail for limiting movement of said seat outwardly with respect to said longitudinal hull axis.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said motion limiting means comprises:

first stop means afiixed to said movable rail adjacent a first end thereof; and

second stop means affixed to said movable rail adjacent the second end thereof, said stop means preventing passage of the ends of said rail through said frame and also preventing said seat from leaving said rail.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising strap means extending from the first end of said rail to the second end of said rail.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 further comprising:

strap means extending between said first stop means and said second stop means.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said rail has a length exceeding the width of said hull.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said rail has a length exceeding the width of said hull.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1941 Fletcher 114-39 6/1953 Sveinsson 114--39 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,010,090 11/1965 Great Britain.

US. Cl. X.R. 1l4124 

